


A Melodic Surprise

by BandaBecca



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 16:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13573983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BandaBecca/pseuds/BandaBecca
Summary: Cullen interrupts the Inquisitor training with Sera to present her with a perfect surprise that leaves her happier than she's been in quite some time...





	A Melodic Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Shameless fluff (because I need to practice not writing smut sometimes too :))  
> Check out my bandabecca Tumblr if you liked it!  
> Thanks for reading! <3

I kicked out one leg without lowering my bow, the top of my foot hitting Sera in the back of the knee. Her legs buckled and her shot missed the target by several meters. Mine hit her target directly in the centre.

‘Bloody Herald!’ she shouted over my laughter. She notched another arrow and spun to face me. Before she could threaten me by raising it, Cullen’s voice called out over us.

‘Inquisitor, do you have a moment?’

Sera growled and threw down her bow, storming toward the tavern. I turned to Cullen, his voice having a strange tone to it, the creases which usually rested on his forehead now absent.

His good mood was contagious. ‘Of course.’ I handed off my bow and followed him up the stairs to the main hall.

I jogged a few steps to catch up to him. ‘Where are we going?’

‘You’ll see.’

I raised my eyebrows, smile deepening. ‘Is this a surprise?’ He didn’t look at me, but I spotted his cheeks tightening as he pushed down a smile. My heart stuttered. ‘I love surprises.’ I whispered sharply more to myself than to him as he turned toward the door of my quarters. When it closed behind us, I followed him up, eyes on the smooth blond hair above his neck, and I knew that the excitement rooting in my belly was from the thrill of seeing him this way—unguarded and excited. For me.

Before we reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and looked down at me. ‘Close your eyes.’

I let out a sound half between a sigh and a laugh, getting one last look at him, the dark colour of his cloak not able to overshadow the glee he was fighting so hard to suppress. 

I closed my eyes and reached a hand up to him. He took it instantly and pulled me gently upwards.

‘Here’s the last step,’ he said quietly before pulling me around the banister and further into the room. The warm leather of his gloves slipped from my fingers and I sensed him moving around me. From over my shoulder, he said quietly, almost a whisper, ‘Open.’

I did. In the centre of the room was a harp so similar to the one I had learned to play as a child, that I knew it instantly as Dalish-made. I grabbed onto his wrist, overcome. ‘Is…I…’ I pushed one hand through my hair as I stepped forward, examining it more closely. The wood yawned and stretched, a grand thing, almost as tall as I. The wood was a lighter colour than my old one, but when I saw the carvings up close, I laughed, emotion threatening to creep up my neck and into my face. Carved into the wood was the same scene I had looked at for all those years in the woods of the Free Marches: Mythal’s betrayal and the revenge of the Dread Wolf. My fingers traced the familiar figures as they acted out their bloody deed, my finger travelling down along one curve and up the next. A small stool was placed next to the harp, and I scooted it back a few inches and sat down, taking a deep breath before pulling the harp back to rest on my shoulder. My hands ghosted over the strings too lightly to make a sound before I planted them at the lowest C, running both hands in opposing ovals in a two-handed glissando. My fingers ran past each note, savouring the way they called to me. Whoever had moved it here and taken great pains to tune it perfectly. After a few seconds, I pulled my hands away and laughed, looking to Cullen in disbelief. 

How had he known? How had he gotten his hands on something so close to the one I had learned on, and how had he managed to get it here in perfect condition? I pushed the harp away and ran to him, throwing both arms around his neck. I hid my face in the fur of his cloak as he chuckled lightly, circling his arms around my back and pulling my body tightly against his. I didn’t know what exactly I was feeling when so many feelings were fighting for my attention. But more than anything I was blissfully happy. Happy and suddenly not half as lonely as I had felt in Skyhold an hour ago.

I leaned back, but didn’t let go of his neck. ‘What can I say that contains one thousand “thank yous” at once? Cullen, I…’ I let go with one hand and turned back to the instrument, running my other hand down his shoulder to his fingers, my eyes pulled back to it like a magnet. 

His thumb trailed along my jaw to my chin and my gaze swung back to him. ‘Seeing you this happy is more than thanks enough.’ A slow smile crept onto my face as I looked into those eyes dripping honey. He seemed to remember himself then and dropped his hand, colour rising to his cheeks. ‘Will you play me something?’

As if I would ever walk away from it now that I could play it whenever I wanted. I rushed to it, sitting back in the stool, closing my eyes and placing my hands flat on the strings, memory sifting through songs from my youth. In a moment, the idea struck me, and my fingers danced as if I had never been forced to trade these strings for a bowstring.

The song was an old one not from the Clan, but one the Keeper had passed down from a history so old that she didn’t know its origins herself, one which went well beyond Clan Lavellan. I lifted my voice, the Elven words mixing and swirling in the air with the notes from the harp. It surprised me how much the melody felt at home and it flowed in the air around me as the harp, this beautiful, thoughtful gift, joined my voice to tell the story of a man afraid his lover would one day leave him, leaving his life bereft.

The last note came and lingered, framed in silence. I leaned into the pressure on my shoulder as it leaned into me, pressing my hands into it tightly.

Cullen clapped softly, and I jumped, eyes snapping open and focusing on him again. I pushed the harp away and ran my fingers along the wood absent-mindedly. ‘You will have to pry me away for the next mission.’

‘I could never. I would claim that it wasn’t part of the duties of a commander.’

‘I would despise whoever dared pull me away, and I would have a hard time despising you.’ I rose and stood in front of him as he leaned against the banister. I looked up at him a moment before speaking. ‘Why did you do this?’

He blinked. ‘Because I believed it would make you happy.’

My chest flooded with doubt before I bunched my hands into fists and locked eyes with him again. ‘Yes, but why? Why would my happiness be something you would consider?’ 

He understood what I was asking; I saw the shift in his eyes, as if they suddenly went deeper. Before he spoke, his hand snaked up my arm to settle on my neck, under my ear. I sighed, leaning into the touch. At last, he spoke: ‘Surely you must know.’

I looked up at him through lidded eyes. ‘Tell me.’

His eyes were half closed and focused on my mouth. ‘Saoirse, I…’ 

I tipped my chin up to him. His lips pressed on mine, rough but without urgency or pressure. His hand tightened on my neck, and I ran my hands up his chest higher until I pushed my fingers through his hair and pulled him more firmly down to me. His arms circled me, pulling me against his chest. I couldn’t keep a smile from my lips as my happiness overwhelmed me.

He pulled away smiling too. ‘What is it?’

I laughed and shook my head. Words wouldn’t suffice, so I pulled him down to me once again to show him just what this and every other moment with him meant to me.


End file.
